Process and apparatus for making yarn and fabric



Dec, M, 1956 L. M. GQTCHETT 2,373,297

PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING YARN AND FABRIC I Filed Aug. 39,. 1951 3 Shwts-Shwe't l Dec, M, 1956 1.. M. COTCHETT PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING YARN AND FABRIC 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 50. 1951 Uec, M, 1956 L. M. COTCHETT PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING YARN AND FABRIC 3 Sheet s-Sheet 5 Filed Aug. 50, 1951.

PROCESS AND APPARATUS F OR MAKING YARN AND FABRIC Louis M. Cotchett, Whitman, Mass.

Application August 30, 1951, Serial No. 244,409

8 Claims. (Cl. 28-1) This invention relates to a new process and apparatus for making sheets, strands, or yarns, themselves of novel character, directly from the fleece of fibers delivered by a carding machine or any other machine which will deliver textile fibers in a thin sheet, and for making fabrics from such yarns or sheets.

in the usual process of making yarn from textile fibers, for instance cotton, a large number of machines, starting with the bale breaker and ending with the fine spinning frame, are required to transform the cotton from its bulk state into a yarn in which the fibers are disposed in substantially parallel relation and are present in practically uniform numbers in the cross-section of such yarn at all points throughout its length. While the arrangement of the fibers in parallel relation can be and is achieved through the use of the elementary principle of drafting card sliver down to the size of the finished yarn, the circumstance which prevents the performance of this operation as a continuous process, and thus vastly complicates the practice, is the difliculty of exercising the requisite control of the individual fibers and the consequent necessity to interrupt the drafting at frequent intervals in order to gather in the fibers one or both ends of which have been released from the strand by the drafting operation, and by such control to bring them back into the body of the strand before they escape as lint and fly or adhere to the moving machine parts by which they are being worked to cause lap-ups and resultant breakdown of the ends, or slubs which impair the quality of the yarn and cloth, as well as material loss and waste of the fibers themselves. Thus traditionally the manufacture of yarns has been a multi-stage process interrupted at frequent intervals by the necessity of controlling the fibers by twisting the strands in the effort to gather in the straying fibers and consolidate the strand, thus calling for the use of a separate machine for each stage and the rewinding and unwinding of the yarns into and from packages in order to make possible each transfer from the machine of one stage to the machine performing the succeeding operation.

All this compels the provision and use of a relatively large number of expensive and complicated machines and a great deal of handling of the incidental packages in their transfer from one machine stage to the next, as is well known.

It is therefore understandable that practically from the beginning of the art of machine spinning of yarn, a method has been sought that will produce finished yarn from the raw material in one continuous drafting operation unbroken by the necessities of inserting twist just to control the fibers, winding them on bobbins, and combining the strands from separate bobbins to remedy the non-uniformity resulting from imperfect control, and again twisting these strands, all of which operations re quire an aggregation of costly equipment and most substantial labor charges. i

As already alluded to, one of the main and everpresent difilculties which accompany the prior process of nited States Patent spinning yarn is the tendency of the fibers in the moving strand to spread out in a non-parallel manner and also to cling to the drawing rolls. This causes even more fibers to break away from the strand and wind around the rolls until it results in the breaking of the strand. This undesirable condition is caused in part by an accumulation of static electricity on the fibers themselves, and generated by their relative motion during drafting whereby they are attracted or repelled from their parallel alignment, and involves the need for controlling the humidity of the mill atmosphere at further substantial trouble and expense, to prevent this adverse effect.

In order to overcome these and other difiiculties the object of the present invention is to devise a process which by nearly perfect control of fibers will produce finished yarn directly from the fleece of fibers delivered by a carding machine or other machine producing a thin sheet of textile fibers, and which process will furnish strands that have relatively high strength in an untwisted state thereby eliminating the necessity of frequent interruption of the process in order to twist the strand to control the component fibers thereof.

Another object of the invention is to devise a method and means which will permit strands composed of drawn fibers but devoid of twist, heretofore unworkable in practice, to be woven, and in fact to be run at high speed through the various steps in the process of making yarn without breakdown or injury to its quality.

A further object of the invention is to provide means for keeping the component fibers under control and in parallel arrangement while the strand is being attenuated thereby preventing the loose fibers from projecting out to lap up and cause impairment of the drawing process and breakdown of the ends.

A still further object of this invention is to devise a process which by eliminating most of the several distinct machine stages through which the fibers in the prior art necessarily passed, is simpler and cheaper both in the initial outlay for apparatus required, and in the manner of operation of the process, thereby resulting in a material saving of time and labor.

Another object of the invention is the elimination of the production of lint or fly which in all prior processes by being blown about the mill and intermingling with the twisted strands leads to the impairment of both the quality of the yarns and of the operation of the equipment, as well as considerable loss of the fibers, but most of all is the cause of one of the greatest items of ex pense in making textiles, namely the cleaning of the machinery, floors, ceilings and walls.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a novel means whereby the fibers are lubricated for the drafting operation thus resulting in the making of more uniform yarns and eventually in a higher quality fabric.

Another object of the invention is a process which strengthens the yarn produced thereby against fraying and is further contrived to render the yarn proof against chafing during the weaving and other operations of the process.

I have discovered that the objects of this invention can be attained by the novel method of embedding or encasing a sheet of component fibers as delivered by a carding machine, combing machine, drawing frame, or other web-producing textile equipment in a thermoplastic material or substance, and then drafting the composite mass at a temperature suificient to render fluid or soften the thermoplastic binder so as to enable such extension or drafting to reduce the resultant composite mass to the size and consistency of yarn. After the fibers have been so processed, the yarns thus composed may be woven into fabrics, and the thermoplastic afterward removed therefrom by suitable solvents or by liquids at temperatures above the thermoplastics melting point, or by both, thus producing strong fabrics from yarns devoid of twist. For example in order to achieve the perfect fiber control possible by this invention, the filmy sheet of web as doffed from the doffer of a carding machine is combined with one sheet, or preferably received between two very thin sheets, of flexible thermoplastic film such as vinylite, polythene, or other thermoplastic material, and immediately rolled or hot-calendered to encase, embed, or surround all the fibers in the plastic. The resultant composite Web is then condensed into a round strand by means of a heated funnel or trumpet and is drafted under heat, preferably directly down to the required size of yarn. In this manner perfect fiber control is attained, since all the fibers are encased in the medium and prevented from escaping regardless of the speed of the process. The resultant strands have high strength in the untwisted state, which is the product of the strength of the encased fibers plus the strength of the binding agent, the

. plastic. Cloth thus composed of untwisted yarns has an excellent drape and hand, the fibers thereof being locked against longitudinal slippage by interlacing in the fabrics even in absence of either twist or thermoplastic binding agent. However, when desired, the thermoplastic may serve as a size, in weaving, knitting and related operations, or as a fixing agent to hold the twist if the strand is twisted either alone or in combination with other strands.

For certain purposes, the thermoplastic may be left in the processed material, either strand or fabric, as for example, for waterproofing, dielectric purposes, special dyeing or coloring, or in some instances for increased strength of the fabric itself, or resistance to wrinkling or soiling. Among other uses, it may also be used to prevent twisted yarns from kinking, as in fish lines, sewing thread, and the like. This novel process is not limited to utilization of commonly used materials in the weaving of fabrics but is proposed as a way of making yarn for the weaving of kapok, ramie, glass, asbestos, milkweed, and other less used materials.

Other objects of the invention and the manner of their attainment are as set forth herein.

An illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 shows diagrammatically the machines and the steps employed to form an intermediate product in the process comprising a supply roll of fiber in sheet form embedded in thermoplastic.

Fig. 2 shows also in diagrammatic form the subsequent steps and apparatus for drawing the material of the fiber sheet into yarn and directly winding the same into a package for use.

Fig. 3 shows partly in dia rarnmatic form a perferred method and apparatus for separating the cloth from the thermoplastic comprising a container for heated liquid, a roller and stripping knife, and a storage roll.

Fig. 4 shows tongue and groove rolls as used in my invention.

Fig. 5 is a vertical front view of drafting rolls containing annular grooves as used in one embodiment of the invention.

Referring to the drawings, wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown a preferred embodiment of my invention, a fleece 1, Fig. 1, of fibers carded on the main cylinder of a cotton card and stripped from the dolfer 13 thereof by a doffer comb 2 is fed between two sheets 4, 6, of thin thermoplastic sheet material, of width equal to that of the fleece, and drawn from supply rolls 3 and These three sheets 1, 4, and 6 are combined between feed rollers 7 and 9 and fed to a stack of hot calendar rolls 17, which melt the thermoplastic and combine the three sheets into a single composite sheet between the successive rolls whereby the fibers are embedded in the thermoplastic in their original relation and orientation as received from the card. The two sheets 4, 6 of thermoplastic material form carriers receiving between them the tenuous and fragile fleece immediately following its leaving the doifer 13, and guard it from being disar ranged until incorporated with the plastic in the stack of hot rolls 17. The emerging composite sheet is allowed to cool and is wound into a roll 19 about a driven mandrel 2th for storage or use in the following stages of the process.

Fig. 2 shows the apparatus and the successive steps for forming into yarn the composite sheet material produced by the steps and means illustrated in Fig. 1. The composite material unwound from roll 19, or if preferred the sheet emerging from calender rolls 17, is drawn through a trumpet 21 in which it is condensed into a strand 22 by an opposed pair of driven tongue and groove rolls 41, 47, roll 41 having a tongue or flange 43 which fits closely within a groove 45 of lower roll 47, the rolls pressing together and coacting to provide a firm grip on the strand adequate to pull it through the condensing trumpet 21. By using tongue and groove rolls the strand is fed without flattening it into a band; the width of the groove is such as to produce an emerging strand of substantially square cross-section. Upon emerging from the tongue and groove rolls the strand then enters the large end 27 of a heated sleeve 25 having a circular passage tapering gradually in diameter from the dimension of the entering strand at its large end 27 down to substantially the desired diameter of the finished yarn at its small exit end 28. Heated sleeve 25 is preferably made of Teflon, which is well adapted for the purpose by its low coefficient of friction, though any other material having the characteristics of low friction and avoidance of chafing of the strand can be used. This sleeve 25 acts in the manner of a die as used in the drawing of wire, in drawing down the strand to the final diameter wanted in the yarn, and for this purpose it is heated in any suitable or desired manner to cause it to soften and render fluid the therrnoplastic material in strand 22 throughout an interval greater than the length of the included fibers and render the strand freely extensible at this stage of the operations. For the same purpose of softening the composite material, the trumpet 21 and the tongue and groove rolls 41, 47, preferably are likewise heated to the desired degree, and to this end the trumpet 21, rolls 41, 47, and sleeve 25 are preferably confined in a chamber or housing 24 to the interior of which ample heat is supplied, as by steam pipes 26. In this case, the bore of trumpet 21 is of a size to effect a drawing down of the strand 22, also.

It is to be noted that the thermoplastic material in which the fibers are embedded, when thus rendered plastic by heat, serves as a lubricant for the drafting operation being performed at this stage, thus enabling the individual fibers to slip past each other freely in the drafting so as to distribute themselves uniformly along the length of the strand, thus resulting in the making of more uniform yarn.

To draw the strand at uniform speed through the drawing sleeve 25, so as to attenuate it to a uniform degree throughout its length, two or more spaced rolls 31, 33, rotated in the same direction through gears 32, 34, and intermediate gear 36 from the driven shaft 38 of roll 33, are provided with a plurality of annular grooves 35 around which the strand 1 is wrapped helically, first over one roll and then under the other, as shown in Fig. 5. In this manner an adequate grip is obtained on the relatively slippery strand or yarn 29 to pull it through the drawing sleeve 25 without compressing the strand to an extent deforming it out of round as would happen in running it through the nip of opposed feeding rolls of straight profile. The yarn 29 emerging from end 28 of the heated sleeve-is allowed to cool or is artificially cooled in the interval before reaching the pulling rolls 31, 33, to allow the thermoplastic to set to a point where little or no distortion of the yarn section will be caused by the pulling rolls.

-By this method of encasing the fibers from the moment oftheir leaving the card in a binder which can be rendered extensible or substantially inextensible at will, it is possible to achieve nearly perfect fiber control, attaining both the distribution of fibers of the initial fleece uniformly throughout the length of the strand and the parallelizing of the fibers in drawing it down, with the complete elimination of loss of fibers and the production of lint and fly since all fibers are embedded in the medium and prevented from escape.

The yarn 29 thus completed is wound into any conventional or desired package such as 39, on arbor 38', in which form it is creeled for warping or otherwise utilized or processed.

Theresulting yarn has a relatively high degree of strength, that of the fibers plus that of the plastic, wholly adequate for Warping and weaving, and needing no size, the thermoplastic present serving therefor. By running the calendered sheet 1 directly from the stack of hot rolls 17 through trumpet 21 and the other devices of Fig. 2, the method can be practised as a single-stage continuous process.

If twisted yarn is Wanted, the untwisted yarn in cones such as 39 is creeled on a regular down-twister, the yarns are passed singly or doubled through heating units creating plasticizing zones after the manner shown in Fig. 2, in which zones twist is inserted by conventional methods, the yarn being cooled and the plastic therein being allowed to set in its twisted state before being wound into the receiving package. This twisted yarn is in unkinking and inert or dead relation, that is, it has no tendency to recoil of its own accord when slackened.

The intermediate sheet product of roll 19 is useful of itself as a fiber-reinforced coating and wrapping material for various purposes apart from the textile field. It is made into a porous sheet, when desired, by blowing hot air or steam through the pores of a revolving cloth-covered porous cylinder around or over which the plastic sheet travels, and can be embossed under heat and pressure to have any desired surface configuration.

The novel process, in addition to doing away with static and most of the sources of mechanical breakdown of the ends, eliminates all use of the traveler employed in ring spinning which as is well known comprises the limiting factor in the speed at which yarns can be spun, through its tendency to burn out due to friction on its ring at high speed. Thus the novel yarns actual speed of production, apart from the greatly shortened process, is more rapid than attainable heretofore.

Thus, the novel method of drawing into yarn fibers wholly encased in thermoplastic material produces yarns composed solely of untwisted fibers thereby eliminating the plurality of stages and apparatus required when using fibers bound together by twist, and in addition results in yarn that is proof against chafing and fraying during the weaving process, as well as having the other advantages pointed out herein.

Fig. 3 shows a preferred means for separating the thermoplastic bonding material from the finished cloth when desired, comprising a vat 51 containing hot water 52 or other fluid through which the cloth 53 treated with a thermoplastic of less specific gravity than water is directed by means of jigger rolls 55 and supporting rolls 56 and 58. The heated liquid melts off the submerged thermoplastic which rises to the surface thereof and is collected on the surface of a revolving chilled roll 57 supplied with cooling liquid through its hollow axle 58, which rotates partly submerged in the fluid and is equipped with a stripping knife 59 for removing in a thin sheet the re-cooled thermoplastic 61 which is then wound about driven mandrel 62 into a storage roll 63 for re-use. The stripped cloth 65 running off roll 58 is then ready for finishing or further processing. When Wholly freed from the thermoplastic it has excellent quality and drape while at the same time is more economical and simpler to produce.

While I have illustrated and described a certain form in which my invention may be embodied, I am aware that many modifications may be made therein by any person skilled in the art, without departing from the scope of the invention as expressed in the claims. Therefore, I do not wish to be limited to the particular form shown, or to the details of construction thereof, but

What I do claim is:

1. Apparatus for making sheet material, containing vegetable fibers comprising in combination a carding machine producing a thin fleece of such fibers, means supplying thermoplastic material in sheet form, rolls feeding the fleece between two sheets of thermoplastic material, and means for melting the thermoplastic and combining the fleece and sheets into a single composite sheet thus embedding all the fibers in the thermoplastic material in their original relation as received from the carding machine.

2. Apparatus for making sheet material comprising in combination a machine for working fibers and delivering the fibers therefrom in a fleece, means supplying thermoplastic material in sheet form, rolls feeding the fleece with one or more sheets of thermoplastic material, and heated calender rolls melting the thermoplastic and combining the fleece and sheets and embedding the fibers in the thermoplastic material in their original relation as received from the fiber-working machine.

3. Apparatus for making yarn comprising in combination a card having a dofler, a doifer comb stripping a fleece of fibers therefrom, means combining the fleece with a sheet of thermoplastic material, a trumpet, tongue and groove rolls feeding the sheet and fleece through the trumpet, drafting means including a member having a tapered bore through which the composite mass is heated, drawn, and stretched at a uniform rate throughout, and means for winding the drawn material into a package of finished yarn.

4. Apparatus for making yarn comprising in combination a machine for working fibers and delivering the fibers therefrom in a fleece, means supplying thermoplastic material in sheet form, rolls feeding the fleece concurrently with sheets of thermoplastic material including heated calender rolls melting the thermoplastic and combining the fleece and sheets and embedding the fibers in the thermoplastic material in their original relation as received from the machine, condensing means, tongue and groove rolls feeding the combined materials through the condensing means, drafting means including a member having a tapered bore through which the composite mass is drawn while the thermoplastic material is in fluid condition and stretched at a uniform rate throughout, and means winding the drawn material into a package for use as yarn.

5. Apparatus for making yarn comprising in combination a machine for working fibers and delivering the fibers therefrom in a fleece, means combining the fleece with one or more sheets of thermoplastic material, a trumpet, tongue and groove rolls feeding the sheets and fleece through the trumpet, a heated sleeve having a tapered bore, rolls having annular grooves drawing the composite mass at a uniform rate through the sleeve,

and means for winding the drawn material into a package of finished yarn.

6. Apparatus for making yarn comprising in combination a carding machine for working fibers and delivering the fibers therefrom in a fleece, means supplying thermoplastic material, and heated calender rolls combining the fleece and plastic material and embedding the fibers in the plastic material in their original relation as received from the carding machine.

7. A continuous method of producing a yarn from a carded web of fibers which comprises impregnating said Web with a thermoplastic adhesive, condensing said web to form a strand while said adhesive is in a fluid state, drafting said strand to the desired diameter while said adhesive is in a fluid state, and winding said strand to form a yarn package. I

8. The process of making yarn which includes the steps of producing a carded web of fibers, applying thermoplastic material thereto, rendering the said material plastic and embedding the fibers therein, condensing the composite mass into a strand, and drawing this strand to the required size of yarn while the thermoplastic material is softened by heat.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,031,614 Armitage July 2, 1912 8 Sherman June 23, Heany Aug. 21, Kennedy May 8, Lejeune et al. May 22, Slayter et al. Oct. 11, Van der Jagt Feb. 20, Simpson Feb. 4, Wallach Aug. 19, McCreary Apr. 17, Browne et a1 July 19, Silvain Oct. 11, Foster Jan. 23, Messing Dec. 9, Robinson et a1. Dec. 1,

FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain of Great Britain May 2, Great Britain of Great Britain May 21, Great Britain Nov. 19,

Great Britain Mar. 15, 

